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Binghamton feasibility study
- Thread starter AMC
- Start date
This could be the catalyst for another Eastern D1 league. Binghamton and Utica would be natural rivals. Add in LIU and Stonehill as independents along with St Anselm which will only play up if in a league. You have 5 teams there. Lindenwood or Alabama Huntsville may not be geographically right but either would put them over the top. Several teams from Atlantic Hockey would probably consider a move there as well.
Binghamton is a member of America East with Vermont, UNH, Maine, and Lowell (and Merrimack is an associate member for men's lacrosse). I could easily envision a scenario where they apply to be the 12th member of Hockey East, given that they already share a conference in every other sport with 4 of the 11 existing members.
RaceBoarder
Waiting for the Snow to fly...
Spoiler for study results:
It can be done, but you need a minimum of a $20 million check...
It can be done, but you need a minimum of a $20 million check...
Wicked Slappaahs
I miss Tie Domi
I think you are WAAAY light on that number . Sacred Heart spent about $70mil on their new barn and that was before Bidenflation. FWIW Binghamton just built a $60 million baseball facility, thanks to an anonymous donor....so I guess anything is possible.
The Sicatoka
Kicizapi Cetan
Clearly not inflation adjusted.
I don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell that Bingo is going to build a new arena. Their target market is the local population that has been attending pro hockey games for decades at what used to be called the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena (2-3 miles from campus). Since they lost their AHL team a year or two ago they are left with a team in the Federal League, a semi-pro operation that makes D-I look positively world class by comparison. This is clearly opportunism, as they want to fill a gap created in the community.
Wicked Slappaahs
I miss Tie Domi
I'm not sure that is their motivation. The school has been on a major growth swing and while not formally considered a "flagship" school by the state administration, (UBuffalo, Stony Brook) they are certainly not being shy about the school's future. I have no idea what they are thinking other than doing a study on elevating hockey. Their lacrosse and baseball team won the America East this past season. As I said earlier, they just built a baseball palace thanks to a secret donor, so they certainly understand what the cost of a rink would be. Plattsburgh is a DIII school with great men's and women's hockey teams selling out their barn in a small town....Binghamton isn't all that far fetched.
I think Lowell shows enough that a pro team uand a college team can't co-exist if the population is small enough. So is Bingo done being a legit minor-pro city for hockey?
Bring back the Broome County Dusters I say!
It is rare for college & minor pro teams to successfully coexist in the same market, even larger markets. Madison, Minneapolis, Huntsville, Omaha, Colorado Springs and Columbus are all examples where they failed.
Binghamton already sponsored baseball and miraculously found a donor that oddly felt putting $60M into facilities for a mid-major program that, like virtually all northern teams, has to play the first month or so of the season down south was a good investment. More power to him/her. Adding hockey would probably mean adding 36 scholarships to comply with Title IX (field hockey has a 12 scholarship limit so they could theoretically cut 6 from other men's sports and limit the incremental investment to 24). On top of that even a minimally acceptable facility for D-I is going to be in the $40M+ range and far more than that for one that is really competitive. Why would they do that when there's a larger, viable facility that the community associates with hockey less than 3 miles from campus and right on the downtown shuttle bus route the students use when they go bar hopping on Friday and Saturday nights?
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Patman
Rodent of Unusual Size
Nobody knows what's up with the baseball field thing. No field in college baseball cost $60M, nevermind one of the bottom feeders of collegiate baseball
That "bottom-feeder" just beat Lowell in the America East Championship Game and qualified for the College World Series for the 4th time since 2013.
iowabasedtraveler
Well-known member
This thread is more entertaining than all the RPI threads put together.
Not exactly. They play in a very weak league that gave them an auto berth into the NCAA tournament after they had a good weekend and won the playoffs. They were seeded so low that they were sent to the Stanford regional to play the overall #2 tournament seed and were quickly dispatched by large margins. They absolutely did not qualify for the College World Series, which is the final rounds in Omaha (just as the World Series is the final round of the MLB playoffs). Binghamton's final record for the season was 15-15 in league play and 22-30 overall.
As or spending $60M, that's easier than many realize, particularly when adding in year round indoor training facilities, gold plated locker and team rooms, coaches suites, etc. Hell, the virtual walk through appears to show granite flooring. I've yet to see an athletic department that couldn't spend a donation.
Patman
Rodent of Unusual Size
what part was wrong, Scott? Look at their behavior over time, they aren't a powerhouse.
TEXAS doesn't spend 60m on baseball facilities
Wicked Slappaahs
I miss Tie Domi
I'm pretty sure Binghamton knows what's up, cuz they built it. Ha ha. (Its more than a field, its a complex which will include a field house, training facilities, etc. They started with the stadium first.). Personally, I think their exploration of hockey will likely end much like Illinois and the other well-documented flirtations. But with the likes of LIU, Lindenwood, St. Thomas, etc. programs popping up into D1 rather quickly, anything is possible.
Ralph Baer
Let's Go 'Tute!
Before I start snarling, I better ask if you mean RPI (the school) or RPI (the index)?